Whitehall Elementary Principal Check-in

Whitehall Elementary is excited for spring! Right now, we are in the fourth quarter of the 2020-21 school year, and the message to all students and staff is to finish strong. A mentor told me, on multiple occasions, to never count the days, instead, make the days count. That is exactly what we are working towards at Whitehall Elementary.

The month of April will bring with it a barrage of testing. Students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades will be sitting their annual SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) tests during the week of April 12 and April 26. This assessment measures student mastery of state academic standards. The results help inform the direction of instruction in which we need to travel at both the classroom and school levels. Through this test we can determine which areas we need to focus on more as well as which areas we are meeting our instructional objectives.

This year, we are going to try out a “Virtual Book Fair.” Mr. Vial, our school librarian, will be sending home communications concerning how to “attend” the virtual book fair and how to order and pay for books and other reading-incentive products online. This virtual fair will take place during the week of April 19-23.

As you may or may not know, last spring Whitehall school district was awarded a $1.5 million grant (dispersed over five years). The primary purpose of the grant, obtained through the Montana Comprehensive Literacy State Development Program, is to create a comprehensive literacy program to advance literacy skills including pre-literacy, skills, reading, writing, speaking, and listening for students from birth through 12th grade.

During this first year of the five-year grant cycle, we have refreshed our science and social studies instructional materials with programs that focus on literacy, and the teachers have been attending high-quality professional development to hone their skills in literacy instruction practices.

The Literacy Grant also includes funding to work with children and their families who are not yet old enough to be in school. In the coming months, I would like to invite any parents with a child four years and younger to send me an email of introduction. Thanks to the grant, we were able to purchase some excellent literacy programs that will not only welcome you and your youngster to the Trojan Team, but also provide you with some excellent resources to start your child’s literacy journey as soon as they are born. I very much want to meet and welcome all families to our school even if your child is a newborn!

We are excited for spring to start showing its sunny face. Spring means baseball, track & field, kindergarten roundup (keep checking the Whitehall Ledger and Facebook for forthcoming information), and general fun in the sun.

Your students and teachers are focusing their attention to finishing the year out as strong as possible, and their effort is something our community should be very proud of.